Two Huge Companies Betting On Firefox OS

Re:Two Huge Companies Betting On Firefox OS by RussianCow on Wednesday January 08, 2014 @12:44PM (#7025030)

I don't think anyone can reasonably expect Firefox OS to "win" over iOS and Android in the foreseeable future. In fact, the target market is completely different; Firefox OS is marketing itself as a no-frills, low-cost alternative with an emphasis on developing countries. In that space, I think it can definitely "win", but it's far too late for it to compete with the big players in the developed world.

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Re:Two Huge Companies Betting On Firefox OS by kllrnohj on Wednesday January 08, 2014 @04:20PM (#7026749)

Android is free AND has widespread driver support from SoC vendors. Firefox OS uses more hardware resources to achieve the same tasks and has less vendor support. In fact, what little driver support it currently has from vendors comes from the fact that it's actually sitting on top of Android (a fact that's often ignored).

Which one is low-cost again?

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Re:Two Huge Companies Betting On Firefox OS by RussianCow on Wednesday January 08, 2014 @05:29PM (#7027289)

I don't mean cost in terms of software efficiency. I mean that Firefox phones are generally going to cost less (in terms of money) than Android ones. As a plus, you don't have to tie your phone to any company's services (Google, Apple, etc). And don't forget that Firefox OS is much newer than Android, so you really can't compare them side-by-side like that.

Let's drop the dramatic fanboyism, hmm?

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Re:Two Huge Companies Betting On Firefox OS by kllrnohj on Wednesday January 08, 2014 @05:45PM (#7027380)

> I mean that Firefox phones are generally going to cost less (in terms of money) than Android ones.

I know what you meant, I was pointing out you were wrong. If the device costs more to an OEM to make (which Firefox OS does), then it's going to cost the user more to purchase. This is basic stuff here...

> As a plus, you don't have to tie your phone to any company's services (Google, Apple, etc).

Android isn't tied to any company's services.

> Let's drop the dramatic fanboyism, hmm?

Er, right back at you?

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Re:Two Huge Companies Betting On Firefox OS by mathattack on Wednesday January 08, 2014 @12:50PM (#7025084)

Exactly - are we hoping for Firefox to win, or just to survive?

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Re:Two Huge Companies Betting On Firefox OS by sp332 on Wednesday January 08, 2014 @03:29PM (#7026350)

I don't care if the Firefox OS wins, as long as its APIs are standardized and incorporated into other OS's.

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[deleted]

Re:Two Huge Companies Betting On Firefox OS by sp332 on Wednesday January 08, 2014 @03:41PM (#7026439)

But there are a lot of APIs required. Web apps didn't have access to even basic things like the phone dialer before (on Android or iOS at least).

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Re:Two Huge Companies Betting On Firefox OS by Groxx on Wednesday January 08, 2014 @01:03PM (#7025203)

Probably to win over a different target: Nokia.

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Re:Two Huge Companies Betting On Firefox OS by sliverstorm on Wednesday January 08, 2014 @02:02PM (#7025663)

In that case, I'm sure not hoping for them to win. Nokia hardware has always been my favorite.

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Re:Two Huge Companies Betting On Firefox OS by fabrice_d on Wednesday January 08, 2014 @03:56PM (#7026551)

Firefox OS is not tied to one hardware manufacturer. Indeed Nokia hardware is great - I'd like to find time to port fxos on my n9!

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Re:Two Huge Companies Betting On Firefox OS by sliverstorm on Wednesday January 08, 2014 @04:46PM (#7026953)

Clearly Nokia has switched OS at least once (Windows Phone) but I see them a lot like iPhones. The software and hardware comes as a package. They are apart from the Samsung/HTC/Huawei/LG/IForgetTheRest group that runs whatever OS is useful.

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